


Black Ice

by Just a Hollowed Writer (Just_a_Shiny_Eevee)



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Gen, Hollow Knight Modern Au, Hollow knight - Ice skating AU, Hurt/Comfort, I hope you like Figure Skating, Ice Skating, More tags to be added!, Poor Tiso, Work In Progress, longfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28268796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_Shiny_Eevee/pseuds/Just%20a%20Hollowed%20Writer
Summary: A young and Inexperienced Tiso always dreamed of Figure Skating. It was his life goal ever since he was little. Finally, he's able to put that goal to the test as he got accepted into an ice skating team. A trainer one of course. But, Tiso refuses to address his own problems. Which leads him down a path prone for destruction and humiliation. To solve this, he seeks help from an unlikely source. One that may end up hurting him more than help him.
Relationships: God Tamer/Tiso (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. On Ice!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to **Black Ice.** This is the second fic I'll be working on, and one that's shorter than my first. But! It'll be just as good! I hope! 'Got nothing more to say, enjoy!

_(Cover Drawn by VictheSinner. Hi there!)_

“Hey! ‘You ready yet?”

“Yeah yeah. Just give me a moment Gray! Tying these things isn't always the easiest!” _A loop here… A loop there… Almost... Done!_ “I’m ready Gray!”

“Alright well let’s get going, Tiso!”

Today has been quite the dream. Tiso still can’t believe he managed to make the team. Or at least, the training one. He doesn’t know that much about Figure Skating, but boy. Did he always want to join an actual team! Ish! He was never one for studying…

Where he was now was one he could only imagine in his dreams. A pretty large ice rink with rows and rows of seats. All prepped for watching the magnificent show awaiting for them. He closed his eyes as he thought about the beautiful setting. There he was… Skating away. Spinning, performing some impressive jumps… Encapsulated by the beauty of the song…

“TISO!”

“Y- YEAH I’M COMING!

Of course. He couldn’t imagine forever. He had to finish tying up his skates and get to training! How else would he accomplish his end goal? Wyrm, he couldn’t contain the excitement. Even others could feel his giddiness about the whole thing. Boy was he a happy bug. Never has he been so excited for something in his life. Some would even say he was the happiest bug alive! He laughed at himself for thinking that! He needed to finish up making his damn loops so he can finally get to skating!

If his hands weren’t shaking so damn much! His excitement was getting in the way of his passion. Did he mention he was excited? Pushing through his shakiness, Tiso managed to finally tie both of his skates together. He used to rollerblade a lot back then. So all this wasn’t new to him. Skates were like second nature. Tiso couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have skates on!

Standing up, he walked out of the small room outside of the locker room. Unlike the other students, Tiso actually had some practice before. Giving a cocky smile, he put his hands behind his back and. Skated. Pushing with one leg on the ground before lifting that leg off and pushing with the other leg. And the motion was flawless. Tiso didn’t hesitate, he didn’t look down to make sure he was using the right blades. Nothing> He even closed his eyes!

His back was straight up and his hands simply grabbed each other. Sparkles seemed to show up next to his face as he skated. Some students even stared at Tiso with awed expressions! They were new to this, so having someone like his just. Glide on by them was outstanding! They should take notes. ‘Learn from a REAL skater.

At least… That’s what was going through his head. He thought everyone looked upon him with such a loving daze that they all stopped in their tracks. Finally, Tiso reached his location next to Gray. Gray was a good friend- buuuuut Tiso wondered how such a big beetle get into ice skating? Surely, he should lower his weight. It would only make sense! Nobody would want to watch a wide ice skater do jumps and spins. No no no. They would want to watch someone who’s thin and beautiful. Someone who knows how to take care of himself. Someone who’s tall and lanky.

Such as himself of course.

More sparkles appeared around his face once Tiso thought of such a thing. He would do great and he knew it. He would out-skate Gray. Poor guy. He never stood a chance against someone so grand. Tiso opened his eyes and his fantasy seemed to break in front of him.

Looking around, he saw other skaters doing exactly what he was doing. Minus all the drama and sparkles and stuff. The other guys looked just as capable as he was! They looked like they could skate just fine. They didn’t need extra help. Tiso scoffed to himself, surely. They probably were just good at… Rollerblading like he was. He can’t be the only one who knows how to skate. You gotta be at least decent enough to even make this pseudo-team.

They didn’t know how to do any of the jumps or leaps of course. How could they? Most of them were begin-... Average at best. There was no way they knew how to do the jumps! Tiso would show them how it’s done. He knew what to do and he’ll lead the team with flying colors!

“Hey T. Ya good there?” Gray smacked his elbow against Tiso. Fully derailing his train of thought. Tiso was brought back to reality as he responded to Gray.

“YEAH!” He cleared his throat. “Y- yeah! I’m here. Juuust thinking of a few things ya know?” Sweat powered down the back of Tiso’s neck, though he wiped it off with a hand of his.

“Yeah yeah… Hey um. Try not to look like an idiot out there alright?” Gray crossed his arms in a playful manner, snickering at the thought.

“I- I do not look like an idiot!” Tiso put a hand to his chest. Closing his eyes and standing up straight. “I’ll have you know. I trained to get this good! Do you know how long it took me to even get this far!?”

“... A month.”

“Yeah! That’s how long! One mon- Wh- HEY!” Before Tiso could continue, however. That coach of the team rounded everyone up and started to discuss the day.

“Alright so. I'm sure most of you already know the basics of how to skate. But I still have to check just in case anyone doesn’t fully understand.” He reaches behind him to grab a skate. Showing it off to everyone. “This is a skate as I’m sure you may know. There are two blades. One on the outside, and one on the inside. The front with what we call a toe pick, it’s purpose is to provide a break to the skate. But it also helps the skater jump. As they can lean off of this.” He puts the skate away.

“There are around seven different types of jumps. The Axel, Toe Loop, Loop, Salchow, Lutz, Euler, and Flip. You will know each of these if you haven’t already. And you will master them. They are the key to making it far in this sport.”

“Sir?” A younger bug a little aways from Tiso spoke up. “What’s your name?”

“Oh. My apologies. Call me Willow. And you can put Mr. in front of that, I don’t really care.” Well Willow seems like a pretty laid back guy! Tiso’s confidence skyrocketed the more and more he heard from this guy. Willow told them the basics of ice skating, stuff that most of them should already know. Like Tiso! He knew everything!

“Hey Tiso?”

“Hm? Sup Gray what ‘cha need?”

“How do you do a Mohawk turn?”

“Oh, that’s simple.” Tiso raised up both of his hands and connected them. Putting them on the back of his head, he let out a sigh as he explained to Gray what this turn was. Why did he need to explain to him? Gray should know what it is. He did decide to try out Figure Skating after all.

“A Mohawk turn is when.”

…

_“A Mohawk turn is when…”_

“Is when what?”

“I- I’m thinking! Look I- I don’t know everything okay?” Tiso stamped on the ground with a skate of his. Staring into Gray quite harshly.

“A Mohawk turn is a change in skating footing, but not an edge Tiso… How much do you even know?”

“The important stuff of course! Like jumps and things!”

“Tiso…” While Gray was facepalming at Tiso’s _genius._ Tiso turned back to Willow to hear the rest of his instructions. Willow was a praying mantis. For some reason, he decided to keep his claws. Despite those claws being dangerous and getting in the way, Willow wore glasses and always kept a neat little clipboard nearby. How he even manages to write on that thing is a mystery to Tiso.

He just kept explaining stuff that Tiso already knew. So he put on a little scowl and decided to look around. Like before, the rink they were in was a pretty big rink. There were a ton of seats in the back, so much so Tiso couldn’t even see the last row! The rink was pretty big as well. Maybe too big… It felt like it had enough room to fit two teams on it. Not just Tiso’s little band of misfits.

The temperature wasn’t akin to his liking however. It was pretty cold and Tiso had to rub his shoulders every once and awhile. But that was a given, they were on an ice rink of course, and you need to keep ice pretty cold to even skate on it! There was a loud door creak that erupted through the stadium. Tiso shot his head towards the noise, losing all focus on Willow right in front of him.

Someone new walked in. They were similar to Willow… But a bit smaller? And fluffier? They had a large amount of fur on their neck. As well as it being on their arms and legs. They also had pretty strange yellow… Ribbon things coming out from their head. Was that a moth…?

“Ah. Yes.” Willow cleared his throat as he turned to address the moth in the room. “I’ll be right with you! I just need to finish up a couple more things.” The moth then gave a nod and walked into a certain room Tiso hasn’t been in before. Once she disappeared, Tiso watched that area for a bit longer before returning to Willow’s instructions.

Today… Much to Tiso’s disappointment. Wasn’t a very interactive day. They weren’t going to do any jumps or spins or lifts or any of the sort. Instead, he just wanted them to skate around. Joy. Like hell Tiso was only going to do that. He watched as Willow walked away and into that one room where the moth was. Once he was gone, everyone just went off on their own thing. Some skated alone, some were still training actually! And some were just spending time with their friend and not even doing what Willow wanted them to do.

Which Tiso was doing of course.

Him and Gray simply glided across the frozen surface. Tiso has been so used to this that he doesn’t need to look down to know which foot to use and how. Gray was a bit iffy however, he still needed some practice. He was nowhere near as good as Tiso was! Sure, he may know more than Tiso. But Tiso can actually pull off the moves!

“You can not.”

“Of course I can! I’ll do a Lutz right here!” Without waiting for a response from his (probably correct) friend. Tiso gets in position. He sets it upright, leaning into the jump backwards on his right foot. He just needs to his this angle just right, and bam! He did one of the hardest jumps in figure skating! Everyone would stare at him in awe and he would be declared the role model of this little band of skaters!

That’s what he would’ve hoped. But he judged his jump wrong, and since the ice rink has more than just two people on it at all times. Tiso ran headfirst into a girl. A butterfly to be exact. She had amazing deep purple wings and a pitch-black chitin skin. Her eyes were a loud white and her antennas were yellow of all things. “Ah… Sorry about that miss-”

“What the hell man?” Well, that was rude of her. Doesn’t she know who she’s talking to? “Oh, sorry! Sorry! Stuff like that just comes out sometimes and I can’t help it. You know?” Her voice was smooth as butter. A perfect high voice mixed with that amazing skin tone and wing color. And damn she looks really good for a butterfly. And Tiso has seen a few before. Not many as they are a bit rare. But enough to make a notice on him.

Tiso more or less fell on the ground. Though the butterfly didn’t. Her harsh language took him aback, however. First off, why was she so mean in the first place? Second off, how DARE she talk to him like that? Doesn’t she know who he is? Quickly, Tiso tries to roll back in a stylish manner to really show her who he is, and what he can do. Though that fails in a pretty… Terrible way. Not that he didn’t recover however! Quickly, he pushed himself on the ground so he can stand up on his own two legs.

Taking a hand to his chest, he proudly proclaims. “Excuse me miss. I am the great Ice Skating soon-to-be champaign Tiso. You are speaking to someone both high in skill, and in rank. I suggest you use less, colorful. Language next time” Stars seemed to sparkle once Tiso finished speaking. He looked pretty proud. His eyes were closed and his chest was puffed out. Like he was showing off to someone.

It was a shame that someone now had a considerably less opinion of him now. “Yeah… Suuurree…”

“Now. Might I ask, what is of your name Ms.-” Tiso opened his eyes to look at the butterfly again, only to find that she wasn’t there! Instead, she skated off to a different group of friends with whom they were all chatting. Tiso crossed his arms, his now proud expression replaced with one of anger. “Bah! Some people just don’t appreciate true prowess!”

“Don’t you mean talent?”

“GAH! DU- GRAY!” Without him knowing it, Gray just swooped up next to Tiso. Causing Tiso to jump back in fear, nearly falling over his own skates again! Which he wasn’t going to allow to happen a second time. No way, no how. He was only going to make one mistake! That’s it! “W- whatever it is! She just doesn’t see true… Skill even when it hits her right in the face!”

“Tiso Tiso Tiso… Do you even know her name?”

“Of course I do!”

“Well what is it?”

“...”

“So you don-”

“Remind me what it is again. Because I did know it. It just slipped my mind.”

Gray sighed. “That’s Lavender. She hails from a pretty high family. They paid a lot to get in here you know.”

“Of course she did. We all did. But I bet they got discounts because she comes from such a rich family!”

“Out of everything you said. That might be the first thing I actually agree with. I heard she isn’t the nicest bug to be around”

“Well of course not! She didn’t even give me her name!”

“Ya got weird priorities Tiso.” Once the two finished bickering. Tiso suggested they go back to doing different jumps and spins. Though Gray reminded him that, that wasn’t what their teacher wanted them to do. Willow wanted them to just skate around. ‘Get a feel for the rink and such. But Tiso being Tiso, wasted no time in getting in extra practice. Plus, he wanted to show off to other bugs that he wasn’t apart of them He was something different, something unique! Something to stand out from the crowd. And what better way to do that than to do some jumps?

Much to Tiso’s disappointment. Gray heavily suggested they started with the simple stuff. Jumps like Toe Loops, The Slachlow, and a simple Loop. Which, Tiso of course managed to do all with flying colors. He impressed everyone nearby! They all looked at him with stunned expressions. Watching as their hero was flying through the air with jumps that they will never be able to achieve!

In reality. It went something like this:

“Alright Tiso. Do a simple Toe Loop. ‘Ain't that hard. Come on.” Tiso nodded and got into position. He remembered or tried to remember everything he was taught, he saw and heard about this. It’s just a Toe Loop. The easiest trick to perform! What could go wrong? ‘Like he remembered. Tiso approached the jump backward, since there was really only one jump you can make forwards. Standing on the outside edge of the blade of his right foot. Tiso shot the tip of his other skate into the ground. Sending him up into the air.

And like all jumps, he did this with a multitude of spins. Cutting through the air like he was a bullet going through glass. But. Tiso overestimated how easy the jump would be, and decided to make more spins than what seemed necessary. This ended up on Tiso landing sideways on the wrong foot. Causing him to fall down yet again and smack his head against the icy lake. But he quickly got up and brushed himself off. “You just couldn’t resist could you?”

“What? It was an easy jump! I could’a made it! Uhh… Y- you were distracting me that’s all!” Gray just stared with a deadpan expression.

“Yeah. Sure. Now I know why nobody likes to be around you.”

“Because I’m a role model?”

“Because you’re an asshole.”

Now Tiso, stood up straight. Staring at Gray with a baffled expression. “Wh- what!? I’m not an asshole! I’m just someone who takes great-”

“Tiso do me a favor and shut up please? I know I’m your friend, but you do this so much.”

“Do what?” Before gray could answer however. That’s when Willow decided to come out of his office and head to the Rink. He looked… A bit distressed. Angry even. What happened back there in the office that caused such a feeling to arise from him? Tiso wondered if perhaps he was going to change something about the Rink. Or how they train and so on. Which. He took it as a good thing! More people to show his awesome skills towards and impress! Exactly what someone like him needs! He crossed his arms as more sparkles flew around him.

Gray meanwhile still gave him that pretty annoyed look he always had. What did it matter? He just didn’t understand Tiso’s amazing…

…

 _Think damnit! Think! My… Uhh…_ Before Tiso could think of that word. Willow finally reached a spot on the edge of the Rink and called everyone over. Explaining who that new person was, and what was happening. If anything was happening. Willow gave a quick loud whistle to shut everyone up so he could speak.

“Alright! Some… Ugh. Some news. Have arrived. For those who have noticed. That Moth whom I’ve just spoken with is the leader or coach of one of the best ice skating groups out there. And with them, comes the all-time champion. Yes. That does mean they are going to arrive here”

And everyone lost their mind.

In a matter of seconds. Every person there except for Willow just went crazy. I mean, who wouldn’t? It was the champion! She was coming here to watch all of them. Even Gray was excited and Tiso thought nothing would invoke that feeling inside him. Poor Willow lost control of the group as everyone quickly turned to their friends to gossip about the new arrival. Who wouldn’t be so excited? It was the champion for crying out loud!

Tiso tried his best to hide his own enjoyment. Scoffing and crossing his arms while closing his eyes. But his shaking gave him away. After a small bit of time of everyone talking to each other. Willow managed to calm mostly everyone down for him to explain. “Alright alright, that’s enough! Let me explain before you all get your heads twisted in a blender! The campion is only going to appear for the next few days. Along with a couple other skaters in her same group. They are not to be spoken to. They are not to be gawked at. They are merely spectators watching us practice. Nothing more nothing less. So if I see _any_ of you attempting to make contact with them during training. I have the right to scold you otherwise.”

Still, even with the warning they all received. They all couldn’t be more excited than ever for this! One of the skaters asked Willow a question, that being: Why are they even coming here in the first place? Willow simply responded with “They are looking for a new member to join their team. And since they are the best of the best, they believe that they need to pick someone early. As in. They need to start training someone right as they’re starting to ice skate. The problem is, who are they going to pick and is it worth it.”

And that only excited everyone else even more!

Frankly, all the skaters sounded like a bunch of children ready to go get ice cream. Because that’s how they were all kind of acting. At least, to Willow and even Tiso. Yes, Tiso was just as excited as everyone else. Buuut he thought that he already had that spot secured. All he needed to do was to impress the champion of the team and bam! Instant invite to the world's best ice skating team. How hard could it be? Tiso just needed to land a few jumps here and there and done! Simple and easy as pie!

The day was ending however. Much to Tiso’s disappointment. He wished they could at least see the champion before they went home. But, sadly that isn’t the case. Tiso went to his locker and traded out his ice skates with normal shoes. He grabbed his coat and set it on. Gray actually approached him as he was about to leave. “Tiso!”

“Yeah?” He turned around to meet the beetle.

“Say, don’t you want to change your shirt? Wearing that thing isn’t uncomfy to you?”

“Ha! Nope! Not at all! I wear this thing with pride!”

“‘Course you do…”

“It shows who I am, and what I’ve become! So I like to walk around in public with it. ‘Gives off that impression you know?”

“If you say so…” Gray sighed. Yet he still decided to follow his friend out of the Rink.

The world outside the Rink was much much larger than it would appear to the naked eye. People were all doing their own thing out here. Some were leaving their jobs, some were just going to them! Others are perhaps hanging out, and so on and so forth. Tiso always dreamed that one day, he would set out and explore this wonderful world. But as of now, he needed a job and a stable way of life. Sure, he was already applying for one. ‘Down by the local convenience store. They still have to accept his application. But the real job he wants to land, is that of making a living ice skating. Now THAT. Sounded like the life.

But, that of course is gonna take a while. There was no way he was simply going to achieve that dream of his in a few days or even weeks. To even obtain something like that. He’s ready to put in the amount of work however. Nothing is going to stop him from reaching his dream!

“Why are you so excited?” Gray once again gave him a confused look as Tiso’s eyes sparkled. The two of them were waiting for the bus together. Gray does live a little ways away, so he needs to take a bus to get there. While Tiso…

“Y- you sure?”

“Yeah! I don’t live that far. ‘I don’t need a bus because-”

“You’re just so wonderful and awesome and you don’t want to be seen riding something filled with other disgusting people.”

“Exat- what!? No!! No no no! I- Uhh…”

“Look Tiso. If you want to ride the bus. Then just hop up on. I’ll leave a seat open for you.” And just like that. The clean white bus shows up. It was already filled with a moderate amount of people. But nothing too many or nothing that Tiso couldn’t handle. At least, he thought he couldn’t handle it. Still going with his gut, he decided against going on the bus with his friend, he shook his head.

“N- no sorry! I’ll see ya later next time okay Gray?” Gray gave a nod and also a goodbye as well. Tiso returned that nod with a wave of his own hand before running off in his own direction. Gray knew what he just saw from Tiso was. Weird. At best. For some reason, Tiso never liked riding on buses. Ever! Was it something that he went through? Maybe. Gray thought about it as he found his spot on the bus. Speaking of which. Tiso has been acting a bit strange all day. But he chalked it up to be maybe Tiso is just really excited to ice skate. This is their first time professionally doing it after all. He sighed as the bus took off.

Tiso meanwhile grimaced at the fact he didn’t take the bus. Now he has to walk all the way home which was easier said than done. He never liked walking home. Yet he always chose to do it. What was so hard about asking a friend to drive him over or even taking the bus!? Agh… It didn’t matter… All he had to do now was to get to his apartment. Simple as that. Thankfully, he was telling the truth somewhat. Where he lived wasn’t too far from the ice rink. So he could just. Walk there.

And walk he did. Picking up his pack which only contained his ice skates. He set himself on a course through the city to his home. Speaking of the city. For an area that is known to be quite loud and busy. The nights are always calm and restful. Sure there were a lot of tall buildings everywhere. But between each building rested a calm patch of grass. A park. The city builders made sure to put in as much nature as they could. Which, he was thankful for! Seeing some green or brown is much better than seeing gray and black.

It was a shame Tiso didn’t live near a park though… Times have been tough on him. The place he walked too was really broken down. Buildings were relatively small. Most of them were rotting and breaking. Some didn’t even have doors on them. Looking down on the sidewalk, you can see footprints from other pedestrians. Hell, even the road is messed up. There are clear areas where it spikes out. Able to piece a tire in some fashion. Or hit the hood of the car. Some patches of the road aren’t even road. Back to the buildings. Most of them don’t have windows. The doors that the buildings did have, were all rusted over. You had to be extra careful when opening them out of fear of breaking the hatches. Tiso walked into one of these destroyed buildings. He swears it looked like this part of town survived a nuclear bomb.

“Ah. Tiso. Glad to see you’re here.”

“A- ah… Hey there…”

“Dice”

“Dice! Hello there dice! I- I just came back to er…”

“Yes yes another rest. Do you have the money?” Straight to the point as always… Tiso never liked it when Dice was here. He much rather have his secretary. As much as she’s mean. She never asks about how he’s doing or anything. He’s sure she doesn’t even care about him! Dice meanwhile. Dice was the owner of this hotel. He was yet another butterfly. His skin was all dark yet he spoke with a very deep tone for such a beautiful creature. Speaking of beautiful, his wings had an… Interesting design on them. It was a disgusting mix of purple, green, yellow, and orange. It didn’t make sense. Some say that Dice had actually gotten into fights before which damaged his wings. His blood leaked out, and that explains why they have such different colors.

Tiso didn’t WANT to find out. Dice _always_ asked him if he had enough money to pay back his rent however. And Tiso never liked telling him that he doesn’t have enough. He hated it if anything. Because Dice would always just shoot this death stare at him. And then warn him-

“You better get that money in Tiso. I don’t have time to keep waiting damnit. You’re heavily behind and I need that money. Got it?”

“Y- yes sir! I’ll bring it to you by the end of this month!”

“Good. Bring it at the end of this week.”

“I- I can’t make-”

“Then we’ll discuss it from there. Catch.” Dice threw Tiso’s room key. Which Tiso didn’t expect as it bounced off of him and hit the floor. He had to lean over to pick it up which shot a massive blush on the little bug. Before any other words could be said, he quickly ran up to his room. Bypassing a bunch of other rooms. Some which had no door on them. His was all the way in the back with the cleanest door still attached. Amazingly. He got lucky on that part. As quick as he could, he opened the door and shut it behind him. Leaning on it as he let out a huge sigh.

Tiso closed his eyes. Allowing himself to rest for a bit. “Home sweet home…” He opened them to see… A mess. His bed wasn’t made. Most of the covers were on the floor. The bed didn’t have any sheets. There was a TV, but it wasn’t working. The kitchen was only a step away from his bedroom, which was the living room and family room. And next to the kitchen was the bathroom. Which was so small and so cramped. Tiso had no idea how people could even shower in there. He did his best when he could. But when the water started giving out strange colors. He stopped showing there altogether.

There was no washer, and Tiso couldn’t afford to clean his sheets. The fridge barely worked, so he only stored items there that could survive at room temperature. But it was mostly filled with water bottles and jugs. Clean ones. The covers of his bed had some strange stains on them. Tiso tried to wash them out as best as he could, given his limits. But all in all, it always started there. He made sure to sleep with the stains away from his face. Only Wyrm knows what they are… Some parts of his walls are tearing down. The foundation could be seen through these tears. Since the walls were just wallpaper. Everything was way too small and way too cramped. His covers on the floor blocked the pathway between the TV and his bed. But Tiso wasn’t feeling hungry. If anything, he felt relieved.

Finally. He is actually starting to take a step in the right direction. He’s going to a place he loves to go, and he’s doing his best to practice there. His plan is to complete the course with flying colors. Then once that’s done, he gonna sign up to every ice skating team he can, and boom! He gets to do his dream job and gets paid fat stacks! He’ll live the life and it’ll be amazing.

But now. He has to take a step from Gray’s book and walk slowly. Everything takes time to reach, even his dream job. He can’t rush anything. ‘Gotta work with it. Tiso was just happy he finally managed to get on a coaching team. ‘Making his way to the big leagues. Yes sir. Soon they’ll be shouting Tiso’s name! All excited and overjoyed! Going Tiso! Tiso! Tiso!

“Tiso…! Tiso… Tiso…” He dropped his pack by the door and flopped on his bed. Smiling. God today took such a toll on him. He didn’t know why he was so tired, but he is! ‘Doesn’t matter. Miraculously. In that fall to his bed, he took off his uniform for ice skating. Even his coat. And threw them to the side. He should’ve folded them, but he just simply didn’t have the energy to do so. Leaning over, he reached down to a secret compartment in his bed that nobody knows about. The first time he found it, it was the cleanest thing in this room. Well, he was glad he found the thing. Because he has a use for it.

Opening it up, he brought out a toy. A plush. It was fairly big. But it was fluffy and soft and Tiso loved it. The plush was that of a Mosscreep. Its expression had a happy face on it, and it was fluffy as anything. He brought it close to his face and sniffed into its greeny fur. It still had the same scent as always. That of a delicious grassy tree smell. It was hard to explain, but to Tiso. It smelled like nature. It brought back some good memories that he keeps forgetting. Boy was he glad nobody knows about this thing. He didn’t know what he would do if he ever lost this plush.

Smuggling closer to the being. He curled around the Mosscreep, squishing it slightly. The pillow was hard as a rock, but that didn’t matter to him. He swiftly fell asleep with a smile on his face. Dreaming about his eventual life as an ice skater. Things were good. Things were indeed good...


	2. Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody expected to have the champion arrive so soon! They were just a bunch of trainees after all. Tiso was super excited to hear about this news however! Hopefully he won't mess it up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mosscreeps make the best pet don't @ me.

“How did ya sleep last night Tiso?”

“Oh great of course!! I mean, we finally managed to hit a trainer team!” Tiso didn’t waste any time waking up today. He actually got up much earlier! Grabbing his stuff and hiding that Mosscreep, he quickly ran out of his apartment and away from his rotten street. There was a bus stop a ways away from where he lived. But his excitement got him to be there much sooner than he should’ve been. He didn’t even greet the secretary who was there this morning. Not… That he would’ve anyways. Even if she was better than Dice, in terms of talking and her general attitude. Tiso still wasn’t really a fan of her…

She just sounded like she didn’t care. Always. Like this job of hers was something she was forced into doing. Like a dad bringing his child to work even though the child just wanted to sit home and ice skate. What is he thinking? Tiso shook his head. Today was gonna be a good day. He finally got accepted into that training group along with Gray, he had all the supplies, and now they were gonna learn some actual ice skating techniques! Hopefully! Tiso severely wished it wasn't just more of the same thing. He wanted to impress everyone with his jumps and spins! He wanted to hear them shout his name as they picked up their cameras and recorded his moves. He wanted them to all smile and wave to him like he was the most talented ice skate-

“Tiso!”

“Ah! What-what!?” Gray hit Tiso’s shoulder which snapped him out of his trance. Tiso shook his head around and examined his surroundings. Eventually returning his eyes to Gray. “What?”

“I asked you a question. And you were off daydreaming again!”

“Well I was having fun daydreaming!” Tiso shut his eyes and leaned against the back of the bus. Crossing his legs. He tried to get back into daydreaming, but it was hard to get back into that world when you have a rowdy bus filled with people talking about their lives. And a friend who’s trying to get your attention no matter what happens. Yup. This was the life alright.

\------

Eventually, they reached their stop. The bus ended its drive and the doors opened. Both Gray and Tiso grabbed their packs and leaped off the bus. The two of them exchanged some words as they walked towards their destination. A turn here and a turn there and bam! Here they were. “The Rock Valley Ice Rink.” Tiso looked up at the title of the rink with a prideful expression. His face beamed that of a man who was ready to face whatever comes his way. No matter how bad or dangerous it may seem!

“You sure look excited” Gray nudged Tiso in the shoulder. Making sure he doesn’t go off and daydream again.

“Of course I am! You know how hard we tried to get in a position of this!”

“More like how hard _you_ tried.”

“Hey you had problems too!”

“Not as much” And with a “Bah!” from Tiso. He shook his head and threw a hand. Walking into the rink still excited like he just got off the bed this morning. He should check again if he has everything. Tiso had to make sure after he checked about 8 more times before. Before Tiso walked into the rink, he leaned on the wall outside and went through his pack again. Making sure he brought the clothing, skates and other necessary tools for skating. Like his plush!

Wait _what._

Quickly, and trying to hide a blush. Tiso zipped his pack up again and walked through the entrance of the rink. By now, Gray was already inside unpacking his things. At least Tiso hoped.

When first walking in the facility. The lockers aren’t just right there in front of everyone to see. A person first has to get there. Which is why the doors lead instead to an open room with a waxed light brown wooden flooring. There are darker brown doors on the left and right sides of the area. But it’s mostly filled with display cases of various people who won tournaments out on the rink. A looooot of bugs come to this rink to watch performance after performance of two bugs butting heads for a puck, or one gracefully butterfly swimming through the air with her wings outstretched for all to see.

He could look at the cases later. Now, Tiso had to actually get to the rink. At the end of the clearing laid another display case. But this one was much much larger. It was more of a booth rather than a display case actually. This booth had the basic speaker in the middle of the glass with a small hole at the bottom. Classic movie theater stuff. This is where people go to pay for tickets to watch things in the ice rink.

“Hey you?” Tiso turned towards another bug who was looking at one of the cases. He was a bit tall to be here. His head nearly hit the ceiling actually. Tiso didn’t know mosquitoes could grow that big. But who is he to judge? He did look nice in that really fancy suit of his. What was he here for? The mosquito turned around at Tiso’s greeting. “Do you know if ice rinks sell tickets?”

“I’m pretty sure they do. How else are people allowed to watch the performances?”

“Good point. Alright! Thank you sir!” Tiso bowed in response to the answer he got. Smiling. The man decided to bow as well. Strange, but Tiso was glad to have a good outcome at the end of this.

Now. He has already wasted enough time getting to the rink! The session was about to start soon. On the left and right sides of the booth, rested large copies of double doors. All of them led into the ice rink. There, people were allowed to walk forward and up into the stands to watch whatever happens down on the lake of glass. However. Going back to the booth. Further down the left side of the booth was a long hallway. Tiso has never been down that way as he had no need of going there. But there was a small turn-in on that hallway that led into the Men’s Locker room. Like a good little ice skater, Tiso headed in that direction. Though before he walked off…

“I’ll bet you’ll be able to see me in performance today!” He signaled to the mosquito. Who in response spoke back.

“Oh, are you one of the Trainees?”

“Sorta. I actually scored quite high on my entry test to get here. A one-hundred-percent actually!” The mosquito actually clapped for Tiso. To which the latter had no idea he would do such a thing. And thus, felt a huge stroke of ego. More sparkles seemed to fly around his face as he walked off.

Tiso actually nearly failed his entry test

He once again thanked the tall mosquito man and walked off. Going down the hallway for a bit before walking in on the turn-in. Opening the doors to another hallway. Though this was quite small. There was a room for equipment, another for more equipment. One for showers, another as an extra room. Aaaaand there were two doors at the end of the hallways which led into the locker room. Tiso merely followed the hallway and waltz into the room.

Out of everything he loved about ice skating. There was one thing he despised. And that was the smell. These guys needed to take better showers. Or any showers at all. Don’t they know that if they really want to get far in this world of ice skating, they should take better care of their hygiene? Tiso coughed a little before going to his locker. Opening it, he placed his pack in there. Opening said pack, he took out his clothing and skates, though he tried his best to hide that plush of his. Why in all the hell did he bring something such as that!? He didn’t mean to! Maybe he wasn’t thinking about it or something. Nevertheless, he quickly zipped it up and shut his locker. Taking his equipment to the bathroom.

Now the bathroom smelled a _lot_ worse. But it was the only place Tiso could really get changed without anyone noticing him. Like hell he was going to undress himself in front of everyone! What was he, an animal? Opening the stall and locking it. Tiso quickly got to work. He didn’t want to spend too long in there. Mostly thanks for the smell. In record time, Tiso got himself all dressed and ready! Opening up the stall again, he went back to his locker to deposit his normal clothes and went out into the ice rink.

That was when he realized he was still wearing socks. Quickly, he ran back inside to put his skates back on and _then_ walk outside. Or more out into the ice rink. With a hop and a swish, Tiso was finally on the rink. Skating away like nobody’s business. The rink itself was quite large. Big enough to hold skating groups. The ice gave off a constant cool temperature that managed to help with some of the intensity of the performances. Some however, don’t really like the coolness of the rink, as having cold air blow into a body that’s already sweating isn’t exactly the greatest feeling. Tiso liked it anyways.

And around the rink rested very long stands. The seats actually have cushioning on them along with something to lean the viewer’s back on. The stands were more like connected chairs than stands. Or bleachers. Tiso didn’t know what to call them, all he knew is that people actually liked sitting in those stands. But that wasn’t important to him, not as important as showing off his skills. Never learning from his lessons, Tiso built up some speed around the rink. A couple bugs were already there, but thanks to how large it was, it was pretty easy for Tiso to reach such a speed. Just like he watched, he approached the jump backwards. This time, he’s going for a Loop. So he approaches from one angle of his skates, Tiso smirks and decides to attempt a spin too. Swinging his right leg, he spins quite gracefully on the ice, but then he slides that same foot preparing for the jump. What he didn’t expect however, is the amount of force he accidentally put on his left foot. Causing him to slip and fall flat on his chest.

Iiiiiin front of a few guys who just got out of the locker room. Some of the guys laughed, though most just ignored him and walked right by. Tiso got up in a second and skated away. Those few shouldn’t have laughed at him! Don’t they know who he is? Immediately, Tiso heard some more skating sounds heading right to him. He twisted his head in that direction in a mere second. Looking to see who it was.

And who it was was someone he didn’t really want to deal with right now. Lavender, the beautiful purple winged-butterfly strolled right up to him with a smile of her own. “Hey, nice Loop!” The butterfly then performed just what Tiso failed to do. A Loop. Like he was doing, she approached the jump-or rather, him-from behind. Swinging her other leg around, she floated high into the air, spinning without the need of a toe pick. She then landed right on the same foot with a bright smile. Almost bowing to Tiso! The latter, of course, didn't really like that. Cooling himself of his temper, Tiso tried to one-up her with a move of his own. Skating right up next to her, Tiso approached yet another jump from behind, he didn’t need the Toe Pick for this, he just needed to jump without it! 

It was a Salchow from what he remembered. Nonetheless, he swung his other foot down and lifted off into the air just like Lavender. Spinning, he landed right on his other foot successfully! He then looked Lavender in the eyes as he bowed, but there came a problem with that. As his body wasn’t ready for the force-shift, his leg wobbled and once again, Tiso fell flat on the ice. “Future Ice Skating Champion ey?” Lavender taunted as she circled around him for a bit, waiting for him to get up. Once he did, she waited for him to watch her before she did a Salchow of her own. Copying his exact moves down to the facial expression. And just like before, she landed on the opposite foot and bowed right in front of Tiso. 

Tiso meanwhile circled his eyes and went to go find Gray. Lavender made sure he got one last look at her, however, as she was standing up straight, boasting about managing to prove Tiso wrong _twice._

“She beat you again huh?” Instead, Gray approached Tiso with a broad smile of his own. Patting Tiso’s shoulder as the two of them skate away from the butterfly. 

“It wasn’t ‘again.’ She didn’t even beat me in anything! I just… I was distracted! That’s all.” Tiso took both hands and put them on the back of his head. Leaning a bit back. Though, he was mindful of his antennas however. The wind didn’t really bother them, he was pretty used to waving them around in the first place. What ice skater has sensitive antennas? That would spell the death of their career that’s for sure.

“Ah. Well, I meant the second time she beat you in a jump. You know, after you kinda, failed that first one”

“You saw that!?”

“Of course I did! It was in front of all the guys in the locker room. You think nobody saw that?”

“I thought you were outside of the room, that’s why I even went out there in the first place.” That was when Willow appeared out of his office near the entrance of the rink. Clipboard in claw and with glasses, he strolls out on the rink and into the spot he was the first day. A couple of the trainees knew what was coming next and saved him some time by already skating in front of him. Though, most of the skaters were still either practicing or were talking to their friends. Like Tiso.

“Alright! Everyone gather up!” He clapped his claws together to try and bring everyone’s attention to him. In response to that, everyone did get in an organized group in front of Willow. Some got there quickly, others took their time.

Like Tiso.

He knew what was coming next and didn’t bear to arrive quickly. Why would he when he already knows everything there is about ice skating? With some more sparkles appearing at the edges of his face and a big smile, he was the last one to skate up to the group. Much to Willow’s dismay. Rolling his eyes, he flipped through a couple pages on his clipboard and began speaking. “Okay. Differentiating from yesterday, today we should be doing some basic jumps and turns. I’m sure all of you know the core six jumps? If you don’t, please come see me for any questions on what they are, or how they are done. I want each of you to go into your own groups of three people or less. Two of you will be practicing, while the third one will be evaluating. Don’t just go with your friends either. I want this to be through.” Someone from the trainees raised their hand and asked for permission to speak. Which the mantis allowed.

“Um. Mr. Willow, you said something about the champion coming today?” The bug who spoke was none other than the butterfly, Lavender, who stepped forward. Willow gave a harsh sigh and a slow nod. Propping his glasses back into place.

“Yes. She is coming here today. Along with a couple other skaters. They aren’t going to be doing anything, they are just here to watch. One of their members left and they are looking for a potential candidate. Or two. This does _not_ mean you get to squabble around her or her team. You are here to skate and practice.” Lavender nodded and gave a quick “Thank you” before stepping back into the group. This time, Tiso decided to ask the next question. Cupping the back of his head again with his hands as he spoke.

“Um. Willow?”

“Yes Tiso?”

“When do we get to do the actual fun stuff? You know like. Learning advanced techniques, or skating to music?” Willow frowned and gave another sigh.

“When you’re ready, Tiso. As per request by the company. It is mandatory that I evaluate all of you on the basics before we move on to anything fancy. It is done this way, so bugs don’t get moved to the advanced courses too quickly, and it serves as a refresher.” Tiso crossed his arms bitterly. _Well that’s just great! Now I have to sit here and wait before we can do ACTUAL figure skatey stuff. ‘Not that it would pose a problem to me however, I already know what to do._ Quickly, Tiso changed his expression and moved his arms down to his sides, giving Willow a nod. The mantis murmured some words before he flipped some more pages on that clipboard of his.

Clearing his throat. He shouted out some orders and the bugs very quickly sorted themselves into their own groups. Tiso luckily managed to wind up with Gray. So now it was just going to be the two of them doing jumps and stuff together. Like old times! Tiso began to skate off before Willow stopped him. “Tiso!” He shouted. Commanding the young bug to come to him. By now, most of the bugs have their own little skating groups.

“Yes Willow?”

“You have to be paired up with three or more bugs. Just having you and Gray won’t do the trick.” Now it was Tiso’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Do I have to? ‘Can’t I just practice with Gray? He knows a lot about skating! We’ll be good.”

“Yes, but I also see how close you are to him. And I can’t allow him falsifying your jumps. So. I decided to have Lavender be your third member.” Of course. Tiso didn’t want this one bit. Who’s to say that his skills weren’t already impressive enough? Why did some girl have to follow the both of them? And how does he know Gray won’t judge him like any other skater? In fact, Gray didn’t even need to judge him! He was already so perfect in all of his moves that training wasn’t even necessary. 

“Seriously!? It can’t just be me and Gray?” Willow shook his head as he stepped back. Allowing Lavender to come closer to Tiso and Gray.

“No. Sorry Tiso. But I did say for bugs to be groups of three or more.” Having Willow walk off, Tiso crossed his arms and pouted. Lavender meanwhile strolled up to him and put a hand on his chin.

“Oh don’t you worry Tiso. I’ll make sure Willow knows aaaalllllll about your mistakes” Tiso smacked her hand away with a scowl.

“My mistakes!? It’ll be yours when we’re done here!” Gray quickly intervened. Putting a hand to both Tiso’s and Lavender's chest, trying to push the two apart before things got ugly.

“H- hey hey now guys? How about before things escalated. We just… Start ice skating? Okay? Because that’s kiiiiiinda what we need to do?” Thankfully, his words actually worked. Tiso backed off and crossed his arms, while the butterfly also stepped off and put hands on her hips with a snarky smile.

After some… Awkward silence. The three decided on a general spot to start practicing. It was mostly away from the other groups, and it was in a pretty big open space. So if any of them messed up, hopefully, no one would notice. Lavender grabbed a clipboard and leaned on the side of the rink. “Now! Let’s try something different. I want to see the both of you try an Axel." This of course shocked both of them. As Tiso and Gray looked back with confusion.

“Y- you’re serious? The hardest jump?” Gray spoke.

“Oh relax.” Lavender threw her hand forward. Rolling her eyes at their expense. “It’s not _that_ hard. Besides! I thought the ‘Soon-to-be world champion’ could do this no sweat?” She pointed at Tiso. Who in turn shoved his hands on his hips with even more sparkles appearing. He took great pride in her words.

“Of course! I can do it easily! Just the three of you watch.” Tiso did a little spin before he skated off to grab some distance for the jump. Once that was done. He took a deep breath before pushing off with some force. Really racking some speed up. _Okay Tiso. Just like you watched. It’s the only jump that you approach from the forward. How hard could it be?_ He floated forward with great speed. Enough to perform the jump and land safely. At least. He thought so.

Leaning forward so his body looked like an arrow. Tiso took a deep breath before swinging his right foot down. The momentum pushed that leg up and allowed him to thrust himself into the air. Just like all the other jumps. Tiso began his rotations. Since the Axel is the hardest jump out of the six, Tiso decided to impress Lavender by spinning more than the required amount. Three rotations is already hard enough. But four rotations is impossible. Nobody has hit that many spins before.

Clutching his arms together. He tore through the air like a blender. Spinning faster than ever before. He easily went past the three rotation mark. In fact, he was even about to do five spins!

All this sadly didn’t matter however. As Tiso landed lopsided on his skate. Forcing his body to come to a sudden halt and the bug fell flat on the ground.

Lavender cracked up laughing. “What kind of move was that!? What were- were you trying to pull? Ha!” Lavender actually recoiled back a little bit, she was having a hard time regaining her balance due to her own laughter. She fell back to the side of the wall clutching her chest. Tiso meanwhile stood up with the most pissed-off expression he could muster.

“You know Lavender!” Tiso got up real close to the butterfly. Pointing a finger on her chest. Lavender on the other hand was still laughing. To her, this all seemed like a great joke. “If you weren’t in the way of my jump! I would’ve set the new standard!!”

“Oh yeah. Sure. Sure you would of Tiso. Aww, you’re amazing you know that?” She placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to push him away a bit. Only for Tiso to grab her hand and throw it to the side. Not backing up from his spot. “Oh? We got a feisty one here. Oh did I harm your precious ego? I’m sorry you couldn’t land a singular widdle wump!” And like that, she went back to laughing right in front of his face. Some tears were even coming out of her eyes. Tiso’s blood was boiling. He felt a fire inside him that was just waiting to be released. And he knew exactly who to release it on. No one gets to discredit him like that, no one! Can’t they see just how great he is? Slowly, he started to clutch his right hand into a fist.

Gray stepped back a little. He didn’t want to get into the confrontation. Something could go wrong knowing how unstable Tiso can be sometimes. And this looks like one of those moments. He thought about getting Willow. But that might cause more harm than good.

“Well well. What do we have here?”

That was a new voice. It sounded low, yet feminine at the same time. Tiso looked up and stood in shock. Right there. Above all three of them. Rested the Champion. Tamer herself. She wore a purely white business suit with a clean black tie and some dress pants. There was a scar through her right eye as well. She hasn’t said why she has that scar, though some say she was in a few gang wars before she took up ice skating. Tamer also bore a smile as she watched the scene unfold beneath her. This surely was not what she was expecting from a group she was told who were: ‘Very talented and disciplined.’ She should’ve read that paper over again.

“Are… Are you…” Tiso stepped back from Lavender. He completely forgot about the argument between the both of them and instead, spent all his attention on the Champion above him. Even the butterfly and the beetle were doing the same! Who wouldn’t? His entire face went a bright red as he stared up at the ant in front of him.

“Yuuuup. Surprise.” Tamer stood up straight and motioned her hands to her sides. Forming a small pose to them. “I guess you didn’t expect me to come so early huh?”

“N- no… I thought we would have someone tell us that you’ve arrived.” Gray stuttered. Tiso on the other hand, was speechless. He couldn’t move, let alone even try to speak. Right in front of him sat his idol. The girl he’s been following for years. The bug he looked up to his entire life. The Champion whom he’s watched every single recording of.

And he acted like a stuck-up snob in her presence.

That wasn’t supposed to happen! She wasn’t supposed to come here so early! She wasn’t allowed to see that scene between him and Lavender!! This has to be some kind of lie… Right? Tiso still stood in quite the shock. His mouth laid wide open and his eyes just stared. So many things were rushing through him at this moment, emotions, actions, ideas, words. And he couldn’t bring himself to commit to any of those. 

“So!” Tamer stood up straight and clapped the two of her hands together. “I’m gonna be learning about everyone here. So I might as well start with you two. What are your names?” Tamer first pointed towards the beetle. Gray immediately flinched. But he attempted to cover that up by standing straight himself. Putting a hand to his chest, he spoke to the lady above him.

“I- I- I’m k- known as Gray. My name is Gray, and I have managed to get into this academy with flying colors.”

“That’s right,” Tamer added. “I read your report. You aced the thing and despite you… Well… No offense. But despite you being a Beetle. You have shown some remarkable talent in your field! I’m impressed you even managed to make it this far. What type of event are you trying to get into Mr. Gray?”

“Oh! Men’s Singles of course. I don’t really work well in pairs. And synchronizing moves takes a while…”

“Y- you mean to tell me you make everything up on the spot!?”

“Yup!” Gray put his hands to his hips and stood up even straighter. Sparkles appeared around him as he closed his eyes and smiled.

“Damn! If you managed to get this good just from improv… I’m extremely impressed Gray! Fantastic work. Maybe I’ll look out for you…” Well that got Gray quite giddy. He was doing his best to hide it, though Tiso could tell he was shaking. Now he has the best Figure Skater in the world watching him. And not Tiso. Tamer looked directly below her at the butterfly. Asking for her name and for her to step out a little. She doesn’t really want to strain her neck looking straight down.

“I’m Lavender.” She fully propped her wings out to show towards the Champion. “I come from a pretty famous family. I’m sure you know of them. I have a lot to live up to, and I won’t let them down! I’m sure of it!!” Tamer nodded as she leaned on the glass. 

“Yes yes. Lavender, I also heard about you. While you didn’t do as well as Gray. Your determination is something-” Tamer cut herself off as she realized something. She shook her head and coughed, looking a bit to the side. “Um. ‘Determination.’ Is something to be praised. You never give up. Not once…” Her voice had much less enthusiasm in it. Especially at the last part. Something didn’t sound right to Tiso. Was there some sort of problem between Tamer and Lavender? Either way, the butterfly looked pretty happy getting some kind of response out of the Champion. She bowed and skated away. Giving Tiso one last smug look as she met up with some other friends of hers.

“Phew…” Tamer rubbed the back of her neck before turning to look at Tiso. “And then we have… You. You’re Tiso right?”

“H- How did you know my name?”

“Easy. As I said, I read your reports. And I have to say. Tiso, I don’t have the best outlook of you you know.”

“Wh- wha…?”

“Gonna be brutal here buddy. The world of ice skating is much harsher than you think. This isn’t some kind of school recess where you can mess around with your friends and get away with it.” She stood up and put her hands behind her head to lean on it.

“But I- Where-”

“Oh. And I’m not too happy with your. Performance. Back there either.” Tiso moved closer to Tamer even though she was still behind some glass. 

“I can make it up to you! We’re having a test in a bit and I’ll-”

“Sorry Tiso.” Tamer shrugged and said no more. Instead, deciding to walk off to some other place of the Rink to watch the other skaters.

…

...

“Damn… I uh… I’m sorry to hear that Tiso.” Gray slowly approached Tiso and planted a hand on his shoulder. Tiso looked a bit upset. This was the first meeting he’s had with someone he looked up to all these years. And here she was, scolding him. Suffice to say, he didn’t want to ice skate anymore. At least not for today. He let Gray stand there next to him as more thoughts flourished inside his brain. Suddenly. Speaking became so hard for him.

“No… Words? Really Tiso?” Gray questioned. “Usually you have some snarky comeback or powerful speech to brag to somebody.”

“Gray? How long until we’re done for the day?”

“We just started man. It’s gonna be a while till we’re done. Say, why don’t we just go… Skate around? Just the two of us okay?”

“Y… Yeah…”

“Trust me. I’m sure you’ll build up that ‘mojo’ in no time! This was just one meeting after all. She’s never seen you in action.”

“You’re… You’re right.” He was! There was a small spark that emitted inside Tiso’s eyes that brought some of him back. She hasn’t seen him move yet! He knows he can pull some really great stuff, and Gray knows about it as well! “You’re right! She doesn’t know what's coming! She only saw a… A bad first impression of me! That can change with time!”

“That’s the spirit! That’s the Tiso I know. Now come on. Let’s talk.” Gray took his hand off of Tiso’s shoulder and skated away. Tiso however. He just simply watched Tamer as she walked around the Rink. Talking to various bugs along with analyzing them. Even with Gray’s words. Something still tore at Tiso. 

“Hey Tiso! You coming?”

“Oh!” Tiso snapped his head around to look at Gray. “Yeah!” Digging his skates into the ice, he moved across the Rink to meet with the Beetle.

\-----

After quite a long time, the day was finally ending. Pretty much everyone saw that Tamer was there. But they sadly couldn’t speak to her too much, as just as she came into the Rink, she also left. However, she didn’t leave the Rink outright. Instead, she went into Willow’s office. The mantis, after speaking a few words to some skater, followed suit. And the two spent a strangely long time in there. Some skaters tried to listen in on whatever they were speaking. But the door was too thick and the sounds of skates were so loud, that they couldn’t make anything out.

Tiso decided to call it in early. The interaction between him and Tamer really didn’t boost his confidence too high. He sat on a bench and began to take his skates off when Willow came out of his office. Quite pissed actually. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Tiso notched his head to the side to look at the mantis. Asking what was wrong.

“She- ugh. She wants to split the Rink up.”

“What?”

“Tamer. She wants to split our Rink up. Since it can support two different teams thanks to its size. The Rink her team used was recently destroyed thanks to an accident.”

“Wouldn’t… That get in the way…?” Willow hit the wall behind him as he stood forward.

“That’s what I said! It would be a distraction for our skaters! But she insisted and man she wouldn’t take no for an answer! Fucking… Agh.” That made Tiso quickly shut up. He dared not say anything for it may anger Willow more. He’s never heard the guy curse. Then again. He’s never really heard of a mantis named Willow. Either or, he didn’t want to cause more problems than solve them. So he continued to take his skates off. Though this got the attention of Willow. Once the mantis cooled off. He questioned Tiso. “Hey. Why are you taking your skates off?”

“O- oh! Uh… Well to be honest Sir. I kinda… Have no motivation to skate. A- at least for today! I’ll be back tomorrow Sir!”

“Hm.” The mantis put a claw to his chin. “Did something happen? You may have some… Problems. But you’re always so ready to skate.”

_That’s. Odd. How did he know that? I only just met the guy._

“Ah. Nothing’s happened Sir. I just. Uh… Something happened personally that’s been bothering me for a while.” Willow stared at him for a while. It was obvious that the mantis didn’t believe him.

“If you say so. But before you do. Please stay behind so I can make my announcement.” And Tiso obeyed. He knew what Willow was already going to say, he heard it come out of Willow’s mouth after all. But he still did the guy a favor and continued to sit down on the bench to hear his words. It couldn’t hurt.

Willow went in front of everyone on the ice rink. Issuing out some words which managed to have everyone surround him. “Alright listen up! I have some important news to share with you all!” Willow cleared his throat as everyone waited patiently. Tiso meanwhile, was still trying to get his skates off. He must’ve tied them too tight.

“As I’m sure you all know. The champion has arrived and has evaluated all of you. And… After a recent discussion… We have decided on something.” Willow cleared his throat yet again and took a deep sigh. “The champion has decided to split our Rink in two. Since there was an accident over in their Rink where they usually practice. Tamer and her team thought to come here, thanks to how big the Rink is.” Once those words dropped, the crowd went wild. Bugs left and right were talking about how they were gonna train with the champion herself! Who wouldn’t be excited about that?

Tiso of course.

He managed to finally get his skates off and was heading into the locker room to get his things packed. Willow attempted to calm down his group of trainees, which went worse than expected. They were all too hyper to quiet down from this. “Now now! To make one thing clear. We are not working with Tamer and her team! We aren’t watching them, and you are certainly not receiving lessons from them! They are there to train on themselves!”

In all the chaos and excitement. Lavender caught a glimpse of Tiso. The bug got up from the bench and walked off into the locker room. _Strange..._ Lavender knew how much Tiso looked up to Tamer. That was pretty much the only other thing he would talk about besides himself. She dissipated away from her group and went to find Gray. Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard finding a large gray beetle. Walking up to the guy, she tapped his shoulder. In which, Gray turned around to see who wanted his attention. “Yes?”

“Hey. ‘You’ve seen Tiso around?”

“No not really.” He shrugged. “Why do you care anyways?” Lavender backed off as Gray pointed at her.

“Alright jeez. I was only asking. He’s all about Tamer so I thought he would be here.”

“Maybe he had a hard day or something. So stop asking.” And like that, Gray turned around and crossed his arms. Leaving a confused Lavender. She looked back to the men’s locker room entrance. Only to find that Tiso was no longer there.

Meh. Gray had a point. Why did she care in the first place?

\-----

Tiso meanwhile, finally got home to his crappy hometown. Today was starting out great, and then it didn’t. No matter how many words Gray told him. He just couldn’t shake the words Tamer said out of his head. Being told you’re a bunch of shit by your idol isn’t exactly uplifting.

Walking into his apartment. He went to the reception desk to grab his key. As that’s customary to anyone who’s lived here. Thankfully, Dice still wasn’t here. And it was just his secretary doing all the work. He rang the bell to have her look up from her newspaper. “Tiso right?”

“Yup.” She sighed and tossed his key onto the desk. Along with an envelope.

“‘Letter came in for you today Tees.”

“Who’s it from?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” And with that, she went back to reading her newspaper. Tiso on the other hand picked up the letter and the keys and started for his room. It wasn’t too far up, which was a good thing. He wanted to sit down for a bit anyway.

Reaching his room. He got his key out and opened it. Revealing to him the room as where he’s left it. A mess. It was his mess anyways, and he didn’t feel like cleaning it up. Shutting the door behind him, he threw his pack to the side and collapsed onto his bed. Laying there for a few moments, he let countless thoughts rummage through his head as he tried not to beat himself down with Tamer’s words. It was then he felt something in his hand.

Lifting it up so he could get a clearer view of it. Tiso recognized that it was the letter that he received earlier. Taking a finger to the edge, he ripped it open to reveal a larger piece of paper inside. “Well at least one good thing happened to me today.” And so he flung the paper to the side. “I got the job. Woooo… At least now I can hopefully buy some things. Or move out if I manage to save enough…” 

Suddenly he remembered his little Mosscreep. Tiso looked in its hidden spot in his bed, only to find that it’s not there. That’s when he realized that he accidentally took it to the Rink with him today. Leaning to the side so he could grab his pack, he opened it only to find… His plush wasn’t there. That was odd… He knew he put it there without meaning too. The spot where the Mosscreep was still had an imprint!

He collapsed back onto the bed. Coming to a conclusion that someone went through his pack and stole it. As there was no way he would drop it out in the open like that.

Well that’s just fucking perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand that's another chapter down. 'Sorry for it taking a while, and I do have some more slightly bad news? Ish? Anyways, I'll be taking a break from writing for a bit. 'Some things are popping up and I would like to address them. I will get back to writing as soon as I can however! :D See you guys soon!

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this. Then check out my other fic, _Broken Mirrors_! I'm actually a bit happy with how this chapter came out. And I hope to be updating this one soon as well! I do promise this will be finished! :D  
> This fic was actually based of an AU a friend told me about. Aaaaand then we obsessed over it for the next few days.


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